Federal "Truball" slugs

M

Major Dave (retired)

New member
Has anyone here tried/used them? If so, how do they compare, accuracy wise, to other Foster slugs in a smooth bore?

Theoretically, according to Federal marketing hype, the ball sits in the backside cavity of a Foster type slug, and when fired it pushes against the rear skirt of the Foster slug, thereby ensuring good obturation and centering, resulting in better accuracy.

Your experiences, please. :confused:
 
They work just fine, but with my smoothbores, I haven't noticed much of a difference with them and others. I buy what's cheap and shoot that. Right now, I have Winchester cheapobox and they pattern fine. For what I use them for, it's still a 1 oz. chunk of lead. The idea is neat, but the actual differences are unseen by me.
 
Federal Tru-Ball will give you this:

DSCN3861.jpg


And for reference:

DSCN3853.jpg
 
Knight,

What kind of sights are you using?

Also, the target sheet is labeled "25 meters" - what kind of groups do you get at 50 and/or 75 yards?

How far away was the doe? Is that the entry or the exit wound?
 
I've shot a lot of reduced velocity Fedral Truball slugs over the years. At 50 yds, I can keep a 3 shot group in about 2.5" out of my Benelli with ghost ring sights. At the last shotgun course I took, I was getting consistent hits on a 12" steel plate offhand out to 100 yds and 3 out of 4 shots were landing at 150 yds. Further than that, the reduced velocity rounds were dropping too fast to be of any use, IMO. The regular velocity Truballs seem to deliver the same accuracy....although I do see a POI shift when I change between the two.
 
There was a student in my shotgun class shooting standard velocity Truball slugs. On hitting steel targets at 50 yards, the plastic ball would bounce all the way back to the shooter.
 
The doe was about 20 yards away. I found that at 50 meters the rounds were shifting high and right.

I was just using the 28'' smooth bore barrel and a IC choke with the twin beads on the barrel. I aimed just underneath the vital area.

The doe ran about 20 paces and fell dead. That is the entry wound.. the exit wound was slightly larger on the other side. Looks like it just tore through everything and kept going.
 
Yes I have boxes of these Truball slugs and have compared them to many others in a variety of shotguns. My experience does not indicate any particular brand having superior accuracy. I typically find about any name brand slug of this type grouping in an acceptable manner in one way or another for my intended purpose. The different brands can group in different places on paper. Then it's just a matter of choosing which one you want to shoot and adjust sighting for that.
 
I asked the same question a while back and bought a couple boxes at Cabela's. Did not get to try them out yet. The old type Federals shoot really good in my single shot and I am hoping these True Balls shoot as well because I think they stopped making the old style. I could not get any other brand to group well. My smooth bore is more consistent than the high priced sabots my buddy shoots. Out of 3 to 5 shots he always gets a "Flyer" that is off a couple inches. I suspect loading slugs is not as accurate as loading rifle bullets. Anyway, can't wait to find time to go to the range.
 
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